Blood donation-related neurologic needle injury: evaluation of 2 years' worth of data from a large blood center.

BACKGROUND

There is little information in the medical literature on t he clinical spectrum of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury and on its frequency in a blood donor population.

STUDY DESIGN AND

METHODS

Sixty-six cases of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury were identified from nursing reports made during a 2-year collection period involving 419,000 whole blood donations. Telephone follow-up was completed on 56 of the 66 cases to better define clinical symptoms, the donor's desire for physician consultation, recovery times, and residual effects.

RESULTS

Symptoms in 66 donors included numbness or tingling (n = 54), excessive or radiating pain (n = 43), and loss of arm or hand strength (n = 8). Of the 56 donors with complete follow-up, 17 (30%) consulted a physician one or more times. Recovery times in these 56 donors were <3 days (n = 22), 4 to 29 days (n = 17), 1 to 3 months (n = 13) 3 to 6 months (n = 2), and >6 months (n = 2). Fifty-two of 56 donors achieved a full recovery, and 4 other donors had only a mild, localized, residual numbness. The incidence of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury was 1 of every 6300 donations.

CONCLUSION

While donor recovery may in some cases require a great deal of time and/or physician consultation(s), total recovery appears to be the rule. The incidence of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury is relatively low.